Microsoft will release Windows Blue to developers in June

SOFTWARE REDEVELOPER Microsoft has said it will release Windows Blue to developers in June at the firm's Build conference.

Criticism surrounding Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system has reached such levels that the firm feels compelled to release a significant update to the operating system within a year of its launch. Now the firm has said that Windows Blue will be handed to developers in June at its Build conference.

Microsoft's Windows Blue is being marketed as an update to Windows 8, however in reality it is the bare minimum the firm has to do to appease disgruntled customers that do not like the awkward tiled interface. Microsoft corporate VP of Windows Julie Larson-Green said that not only will Microsoft have Windows Blue available for developers at Build but that the firm will release a public preview.

Microsoft's decision to release a public preview is needed in order to buy the firm some time by showing customers that it plans to address at least some of the criticisms leveled at Windows 8.

Yesterday Microsoft CMO Tami Reller said that Windows Blue will be released this year and that the firm will use it as an opportunity "to respond to the customer feedback that we've been closely listening to". Reller also claimed that Microsoft has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses, which suggests that there must be millions of unsatisfied customers that it needs to listen to.

If Microsoft really has been listening to its customers then Windows Blue will feature a Start menu, something that Microsoft has yet to announce and will represent an embarrassing about face for the firm. µ